Argued: May 15, 2018
Leonard I. Sharon, Esq. (orally), Andrucki & King,
Lewiston, and Jamesa J. Drake, Esq., Drake Law, LLC, Auburn,
for appellant Michael Journet
Maeghan Maloney, District Attorney, and Tyler J. LeClair,
Asst. Dist. Atty. (orally), Prosecutorial District IV,
Augusta, for appellee State of Maine
Panel:
SAUFLEY, C.J., and ALEXANDER, MEAD, GORMAN, JABAR, HJELM, and
HUMPHREY, JJ.
ALEXANDER, J.
[¶1]
Michael Journet appeals from a judgment of conviction entered
by the trial court (Kennebec County, Stanfill, J.)
for aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs (Class A), 17-A
M.R.S. § 1105-A(1)(B)(1) (2017), following his
conditional guilty plea, see M.R.U. Crim. P.
11(a)(2). On appeal, Journet challenges the order of the
motion court (L. Walker, J.) denying his motion to
suppress evidence seized by, and statements made to, the
police after he was arrested without a warrant. Journet
argues that the officers lacked probable cause to effectuate
a warrantless arrest, and that, as a result of the unlawful
arrest, the statements made and evidence seized after the
arrest are subject to suppression. We affirm the judgment.
I.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
[¶2]
On December 18, 2015, Journet was charged by complaint with
two counts of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs
(Class A), 17-A M.R.S § 1105-A(1)(B)(1) and (H) (2017),
and one count of violating a condition of release (Class E),
15 M.R.S. § 1092(1)(A) (2017). On March 24, 2016, he was
indicted by the Kennebec County grand jury for the felony
charges. On November 29, 2016, the court conducted a hearing
on Journet's motion to suppress the heroin seized and the
statements he made to the arresting officers on December 16,
2015.
[¶3]
In its order dated February 9, 2017, the motion court denied
Journet's motion and included the following specific
findings, all of which are fully supported by the record. On
December 16, 2015, law enforcement officers executed a search
warrant at a residence in Augusta. Illegal drugs were
discovered at the residence. A cooperating individual at the
residence advised that his drug supplier would be arriving at
the residence that evening- between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m-to
deliver ten grams of heroin. The cooperating individual told
the officers that the dealer was a black male whom he knew as
"Troy," that he would be driving a blue BMW SUV and
coming from the Portland area, and that "his known
practice was to transport heroin inside of his pants."
[¶4]
In its order, the trial court also found that the
"cooperating [individual] set up a buy with his supplier
. . . memorialized in text communications" and that the
detective "observed the sale orchestrated through text
message." Although the record does not specifically
support a finding that the detective observed the cooperating
individual "set up a buy," it does support the
court's finding that a "buy" had been arranged
between the cooperating individual and his supplier, and that
the officer observed that the buy had been "orchestrated
through text message."
[¶5]
At approximately 6:40 p.m., a little later than the time
given by the individual at the residence, a blue BMW SUV with
a black male driver and a white passenger was seen turning
onto the dead-end street. At that time, law enforcement
officers stopped the vehicle. Journet, the driver of the blue
BMW SUV, was arrested and later confessed to the possession
of heroin.
[¶6]
Based on these findings, the motion court concluded that, at
the time Journet's vehicle was stopped and he was
apprehended in the course of committing a felony drug
offense, law enforcement officers, collectively, had more
than enough information to establish probable cause to stop
the vehicle and arrest Journet. After entry of the motion
court's decision, no motion for further findings was
filed by Journet.[1] See M.R.U. Crim. P. 23(c).
[¶7]
On September 28, 2017, the court [Stanfill, J.)
accepted Journet's conditional guilty plea to Count 1,
aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs (Class A), 17-A
M.R.S. § 1105-A(1)(B)(1), pursuant to M.R.U. Crim. P.
11(a)(2). Count 2, the second count for aggravated
trafficking in scheduled drugs (Class A), 17-A M.R.S. §
1105-A(1)(H), was dismissed.[2] On November 1, 2017, the court
sentenced Journet to a term of imprisonment of eight years
with all but four years suspended, as well as four years of
probation and a $400 fine. The execution of the sentence was
stayed ...